China, Pakistan reiterate all-weather friendship April 11, 2008

SANYA, Hainan, April 11 (Xinhua) – China and Pakistan reiterated the all-weather friendship between the two countries and agreed to deepen the bilateral strategic partnership in talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf here Friday.

    Highly praising China-Pakistan relations as good neighbors, friends, partners and brothers, Hu said the two countries share an all-weather friendship and overall cooperation. The consistent mutual understanding, trust and support between the two countries on the issues concerning each other’s core interest are the basis for China-Pakistan relations.

    China pays great attention to the relationship with Pakistan, always gives it a priority in China’s foreign policies, and always handles and promotes the relationship from a strategic and long-term point of view, Hu said. He added such principles will not change no matter what happened in the international situation and domestic situation of the two countries.

    Musharraf said the China-Pakistan friendship has been rooted deeply in the peoples of the two countries. The bilateral cooperation has expanded to various fields with fruitful achievements. To develop the strategic partnership with China is the pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policies.

    He said Pakistan hopes the two sides can explore new ways to further strengthen two-way cooperation, especially in such areas as trade, investment, energy, infrastructure construction, youth exchange, education and culture.

    Musharraf arrived here on Thursday on a state visit. During his visit to Hainan, Musharraf will also attend the annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), due to open on Saturday afternoon in Boao.

Intel closes deal to create new flash memory vendor April 1, 2008

Intel Corp., STMicroelectronics and investment firm Francisco Partners LP today closed a deal to create an independent flash memory chip business.Called Numonyx BV, the new Switzerland-based company will design, develop and manufacture nonvolatile NOR and NAND flash memory chips used for storing data in portable consumer devices, including cell phones, ultramobile PCs, digital cameras and MP3 music players, said Intel officials.

As part of the deal, Intel will transfer its NOR flash memory business and certain assets associated with the chip maker’s phase change memory technology for a 45.1% stake in the new firm. Additionally, about 2,500 Intel employees will join the company.

STMicroelectronics contributed its NOR and NAND flash memory assets, as well as its phase-change memory resources to gain a 48.6% share of the new firm. Francisco Partners invested $150 million in cash for the remaining 6.3% stake, Intel said.

Intel described phase-change memory as a new technology for creating chips with fast data read and write speeds that consume less power than conventional flash technology. Last month, Intel and STMicroelectronics began shipping prototype samples of a 128MB memory device, code-named Alverstone, which features phase-change memory technology.

Numonyx CEO Brian Harrison said today that the new company begins operations with annual revenue of approximately $3 billion. “It is rare when a company starts in such a strong position,” he said in statement.

The three partners announced plans last May to create the new firm. The effort was slowed about three months later when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sought additional information for its review into the deal’s antitrust implications.

The Numonyx deal marks the latest effort by Intel to aggressively develop faster and improved flash memory technology to support increased demand for embedded storage devices. The company had earlier launched a joint effort with Micron Technology Inc. to develop new high-speed NAND flash memory technology.

AT&T To Debut Mobile TV In May March 28, 2008

After several months of delays, AT&T (NYSE: T) is planning to begin offering its AT&T Mobile TV in May in a move that stands in sharp contrast to its success with Apple’s iPhone, which has been widely hailed for its video offerings.The new AT&T service, which initially will launch on two handsets and with two exclusive channels, utilizes Qualcomm’s MediaFlo technology, which has been used by Verizon Wireless’ V Cast Mobile TV and other service providers internationally.

“AT&T Mobile TV is a powerful new mobile entertainment offering, which will give our customers a formidable lineup of sports, news, and prime-time shows,” said Mark Collins, VP of consumer data for AT&T’s wireless unit, in a statement. The MediaFlo network has been setting up sporadically across the United States while it waits for more spectrum space to be cleared by the FCC in early 2009.

AT&T said its offering will include programming from CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2GO, and Nickelodeon.

The handsets that initially will headline the AT&T service are LG’s Vu and Samsung’s Access. The VU has a large interactive touch screen with music player, digital camera, and Bluetooth technology included. The Samsung handset has similar features in addition to external stereo speakers for multimedia applications.

Verizon (NYSE: VZ), which released its V Cast Mobile TV service last March, worked to capitalize on AT&T’s delay and this week noted that its service, also based on MediaFlo, includes more than 150 broadcast-quality programs. V Cast is offered on four handsets supplied through Verizon.

Do women need positive discrimination? March 9, 2008

Yes, says the Norwegian government which has a law insisting that 40 per cent of company directors must be female. And this is isn’t just about equality – it argues that the economy will benefit as well.Yes, says the leader of the opposition in the UK. David Cameroon has announced if he gets into power, then at least a third of his cabinet will be women. (At the moment, 6 of his 28-strong shadow cabinet are women).

We need to do something, says a leading female Japanese businesswoman. In an interview she has detailed the multiple problems that women in Japan have at work. Forget glass ceilings, there is ‘an iron ceiling – with a few holes in it’.

Meanwhile, there’s a conference in Brussels this week which wants to increase the role of women in conflict resolution (and make the world more stable in the process it claims). And the UN wants more to help women in the developing world to contribute more to the income of their families by providing micro-credit.

Would all these ambitions be helped if quotas were set and women received positive discrimination?

Is it time inequalities were rectified by legislation?

Would such positive discrimination help all of society?

Or should your country be a meritocracy where every job goes to the best person regardless of their sex?

Do women need positive discrimination? March 8, 2008

Yes, says the Norwegian government which has a law insisting that 40 per cent of company directors must be female. And this is isn’t just about equality – it argues that the economy will benefit as well.

Yes, says the leader of the opposition in the UK. David Cameroon has announced if he gets into power, then at least a third of his cabinet will be women. (At the moment, 6 of his 28-strong shadow cabinet are women).

We need to do something, says a leading female Japanese businesswoman. In an interview she has detailed the multiple problems that women in Japan have at work. Forget glass ceilings, there is ‘an iron ceiling – with a few holes in it’.

Meanwhile, there’s a conference in Brussels this week which wants to increase the role of women in conflict resolution (and make the world more stable in the process it claims). And the UN wants more to help women in the developing world to contribute more to the income of their families by providing micro-credit.

Would all these ambitions be helped if quotas were set and women received positive discrimination?

Is it time inequalities were rectified by legislation?

Would such positive discrimination help all of society?

Or should your country be a meritocracy where every job goes to the best person regardless of their sex?